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Apple and AT&T servers up and down and up and down

"Open the pod bay doors, HAL."

"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that."

Remember the scene from 2001 when astronaut Dave Bowman couldn't get the rogue computer running Discovery to respond to his commands? [Remember the same computer shilling for Apple during the run-up to the Y2K bug? Classy. –Ed.]

Well, that's what's been going on for many people who want the new iPhone. It started early this morning when people were trying to pre-order. In my case, I got thrown out 4 times, each time being told I had let the process time out. Hey, it wasn't me.

AT&T is also having major problems; in fact, that may be what's behind Apple's difficulties, as those who are buying new iPhones (not requiring a check of previous account status) seem to be having a much easier time of it. In the middle of of trying to upgrade via AT&T's site, people are getting this message:

Maintenance In Progress

AT&T is continually working to improve our internet site for our customers. As part of this ongoing effort, we are currently doing maintenance. We apologize for this inconvenience and ask that you please try back again later.


Right. It's not as if both companies didn't know this was coming. And Apple, after all, used to have the word 'Computer' in its name.

Some people are sliding by with no issues, but according to reports we're seeing, many aren't so lucky. The good news is that it looks like the new iPhone is going to be incredibly popular. The bad news is it's awfully hard for many people to order one.

[Thanks to all our suffering readers who shared their experiences]

Update: Here's the Apple pre-order page. Good hunting!


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iPhone

"Open the pod bay doors, HAL." "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that." Remember the scene from 2001 when astronaut Dave Bowman...
 

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Yakov Chodosh

i managed to get my order in... inside the "ships by july 14th" window. i'll get my phone 2-3 weeks after i thought i would. this is not a huge deal. who knows, maybe it'll ship early.

June 16 2010 at 10:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
frogracer

What does the official Apple Add a Line and Pick up in store - receipt look like? They emailed me but the page does not have an ID number or any unique identifier only a statement:
Reserved Items 1
iPhone 4 32GB : Black
$299.00

June 15 2010 at 11:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Eric B.

Finally got through after 11 hours or trying intermitently and it went through. Looks like after all that I didn't get in on the day one shipments.. says it will ship on July 2nd. FU YOU AT&T!!

June 15 2010 at 11:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Eric B.'s comment
MagicFeather

I was in for delivery/ship June 24, then it got stuck processing my purchase on checkout. Froze. Then I hit refresh and it had me relogin, and then said July 2nd. Awesome. I mean, awful.

Maybe we need to shut off our mifi devices.....

June 15 2010 at 11:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
brennan.ventura

I'd be a little skeptical of this. I saw the "We'll see you at the store webpage", and I waited for a couple hours, but no email.

I just tried reserving again, and now I end on a "Your reservation is confirmed." page. It lists the date, Apple location and price I'll be paying. I had to enter my Apple ID this time (I didn't before)...so I think this is much more official.

Just a heads up on my experience.

June 15 2010 at 7:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jeff Shaw

Apple:

We are unable to connect at this time.
We're sorry. There was a problem connecting to the server. Please continue to the next page where you can save your information with an Apple ID, then make an appointment at your nearest Apple Retail Store, where a Specialist will be ready to help you. If you don't want to make an appointment, please try again later.

June 15 2010 at 7:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
larcenous

AT&T sucketh ass.

That is all.

June 15 2010 at 6:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Nikki

Just finished with Apple online chat. Very good service. They said that as long as you get the "We'll see you at the store" webpage, then you are all set for pickup in the store on June 24th. He also said you can contact the store to confirm your reservation.

June 15 2010 at 6:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michael Murdock

AT&T spends their days crapping on business customers. Been monitoring their business site for weeks. They pulled the iphone 3gs out of it a while ago, never put in the iphone 4, then put the 3gs back then pulled it and still have yet to put the iphone4 in there.

Not impressed with them. When I called today to pre order 1 they told me I had to do it through the website which was down and they could not help me, check back in an hour, so I did. That was 5 hours ago.

Oh well. AT&T is not one that knows how to do a product launch.

Apple should re-evaluate their partnership. They give these people exclusive access to the most lucrative piece of hardware and AT&T dicks it up.

Seriously AT&T? SERIOUSLY!!!!

June 15 2010 at 6:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Michael Murdock's comment
iamwatson

@michael murdock

I order mine through the AT&T business premiere store @ 5pm EST

June 15 2010 at 6:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
gentryfunk

Funny thing happened on the way to the Apple Store...I found that I could not reserve an iPhone....BUT an Apple employee said, somewhat secretly, that the new Apple Store app worked fine for reserving the beast. I immediately downloaded the app and VOILA! I was in, reserved the iPhone and all is now right with the world....

Funny.

June 15 2010 at 6:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
bkushner

I tried about 75 times from 8 am til noon and couldn't get through. I then jumped in my car went to Spring and bought their 4g phone.

June 15 2010 at 6:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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